Liquid fuel burner



Patented Sept. 6, 1949 LIQUID FUEL BURNER Ralph W. DeLancey, Meriden,Conn, assignor to' The Miller Company, Meriden, Conn, a corporation ofConnecticut ,LApplication March 1, 1945, Serial No. 580,435

The present invention relates to c ombustion apparatus, and is moreparticularly directed toward liquid fuel burners employing a vaporizingpot type burner;

A common and well pot type burner employs a sheet metal vaporizer intowhich the-liquid fuel flows and a perforated wall through which airpasses, either under forced or natural draft, 'to provide air formixture with fuel vapors and the combustion of the fuel. In burnersofthis type the walls are thin so that jet directional control isunsatisfactory; There is also "a tendency especially with fuels withsubstantial carbonaceous residues for such residues to accumulate.

It is an object of this present invention to improve this general classof pot burners in such a way that they are able to more completelydispose of carbonaceous residues than heretofore.

The present invention contemplates the emknown form of vaporizing 5Claims. (01. 158-91) in a thermally controlled metering valve andthrough the walls so as to direct air jets downwardly into the bottom ofthe pot. In normal operation of the burner these sloping air holes maybe closed and the air enters into the combustion chamber through theholes in a perforated sleeve above the pot.

According to the present invention means are provided whereby the airsupply to the holes in the perforated sleeve can be cut off and all theair entering the interior of the burner be sent down through thedownwardly extending holes in the pot walls. This action takes place atthe time when the fuel control mechanism for supplying fuel to ,theburner is turned off at the end of a high fire operation or soonthereafter. The liquid'fuel. remaining in the pot along withcarbonaceous residues and the pot are hotbecause of the high fireoperation. The draft, either natural or artificial, causes strong, hotair jets to be formed by the air coming in through the inclined holes sothat heated air and flame may be available to burn away the carbonaceousresidues.

The accompanying drawings show, for purposes of illustrating the presentinvention, several embodiments in which the invention may take form, itbeing understood that the drawings are illustrative of the inventionrather than limiting the same.

In these drawings:

Figure 1 is a sectional view, somewhat diagrammatic, illustrating a formof construction employthermally controlled'baflie for controlling theair flowing into the burnem'zthe parts being shown in full lines inposition for high fire operation and in dotted lines in position whenthe burner 'is not operating or is at pilot or on low fire;'

Figure 2 is a fragmentary view illustrating the baflle in thelatterpositio'n;

' Figure 3 illustrates a modified form of construction with parts in thesame position as FigureZ; and I Figure 4 illustrates a form ofconstruction emplaying electrical controls.

In Figure 1' the room thermostat l0 controls the circuit for meteringvalve H having a metering valve stem 1 2 operated by a' thermostat l3under the control of a' heater l4. A second heater I5 in parallel withthe heater l4 actuates a bimetallicthermostat IS; The oil line I! fromthe metering valve is adapted to, deliver fuel to the pot l8;-of theburner. This pot-is preferably made of cast iron and hasdownwardly andinwardly slopingdrillings l9; Above the pot I8 is a perforatedsleevelllof usual construction. In the drawings a natural draft burneris indicated, the air supply coming through a housin 2| which surroundsthe pot and perforated sleeve.

A bafiie ring 22 is carried above the pot l8 and has a flanged portion23 adapted to rest on the top of the potand closeoif the holes l9. Thisring 22 is connected through rods 24- with a spider ring 25. A lever 26pivoted at '21 and provided with a counterweight Zilextends from thecenter of the spider 25 to the plunger-29 adapted-to be operated by thethermal element l6;

When the room thermostat 1 0 is calling for heat the thermal elements,H! and l5 are heated and the parts in the position indicated in fulllines in Figure :1. When, however, the room thermostat luis satisfied it;ope ns the circuit, the metering valve gradually closes down and thethermal bar I6 is also bent down by the cooling of the thermostat. Thelatter operation causes the baffle or ring 22 to lift up away from theholes H! in the wall of the pot f8 and the ring 22 is brought againstflanged rings 30 and 3| carried by the housing 2| and perforated sleeve20, respectively, 50 as to close 013? the passage of air up to the holesor perforations in the sleeve 20.

With this change in draft conditions all the draft must pass through theholes [9. This creates strong jets of heated air, unlike the lazy airstreams produced by perforations in sheet metal, and these strong jetsare directed down toward the center of the bottom of the pot. Thisheated air will have high oxygen content and with the residual heat inthe pot and the heat produced by burning the fuel it is possible toconsume a great deal more of the carbonaceous residue than in potburners in which no provision is made for getting pure air down into thebottom of the pot. Also the air jets facilitate the maintenance of thepilot flame and the complete combustion of the fuel supplied for thepilot flame.

In the modified form of construction illustrated in Figure 3 the damperring 33 is arranged to close oh the space to the perforations in theperforated sleeve 20, but is not-arranged to close off the openings [9so that with this construction some of the air is directed down into.the bottom of the pot at all times.

The arrangement shown in Figure 4 is the same as that shown in Figures 1and 2 so far as the burner itself is concerned and the same referencecharacters are. applied; Here the fuel supply is under the control of asolenoid valve 40 and the lever 26 is under: the control of a solenoid4|. r 1

It will also be understood that the sequence of operations according towhich the draft conditions are changed when going: from high'fireoperation to pilot canbe efiected manually when a manual controlmetering valve is employedv Since it is obvious that the invention maybe embodied in other forms and constructions within the scope of theclaims, I wish it to be understood that the particular forms shown arebut a few of these forms, and various modifications and changes being.possible, I do not otherwise limit myself in any way with respectthereto.

What is claimed is: V

1. Combustion apparatus comprising a burner of the vaporizing pot typeadapted for intermittent high fire operation and having two verticallyseparated groups of spaced apart inlet air openings in the side wallthereof, the lowest group of openings sloping downwardly and inwardlyand when open directing air jets toward the burner bottom, fuel supplyand regulating mechanism for controlling the flow of liquid fuel to theburner, and air control means operating concurrently with the fuelregulatingmechanism for shutting oil the air supply to the lowest groupof openings and opening thefu'pper openings to the air supply when thefuel flow is regulated for high fire and for opening the lowest group ofopenings and shutting off the upper openings when the firing rate-isreduced so that hot air jets may be directed toward the residue in thevaporizer after reduction of fuel supply.

2. Apparatus as in claim 1, wherein the fuel regulating meansinclud'es ametering valve having an electrically heated thermostatic operator,

4 and the air control means Includes a similar operator.

3. Apparatus as in claim 1, wherein the fuel regulating means and theair control means include solenoids in parallel with one another.

4. Combustion apparatus comprising a burner of the vaporizing pot typehaving an annular side wall adapted for intermittent high fire operationand having two vertically separated groups of spaced apart inlet airopenings in the aforesaid side wall thereof, the lowest group ofopenings sloping downwardly and inwardly and when open directing airjets toward the burner bottom, fuel supply means, an air chestcommunicating with all the openings and forming the sole source of airfor combustion, and a ballle ring in the air chest and movable betweentwo positions to direct air through the lowest group of openings onlywhen in one position or through the upper openings only when in theother position. r I

5. Combustion apparatus comprising-a vaporizing pot burner having aburner bowl with an annular wall of substantial thickness and which hasannularly disposed inwardly'and downwardly inclined holes extendingtherethrough, a sheet metal sleeve extending upwardly from the bowl, anair chest forminghousing about the sleeve and burner bowl, the sleevehaving perforations at various levels for-supplying air from the airREFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent;

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,754,573 Ruegsegger Apr. 15,1930 2,200,861 Peoples May 14, 1940 2,214,664 Donley Sept. 10, 19402,214,670 Gilmore et a1 Sept. 10, 1940 2,214,693 Grotenhuis Sept. 10,1940 2,290,544 DeLancey July 21, 1942 2,313,568 Miller Mar. 9, 19432,329,292 Perry Sept. 14, 1943 2,337,088 Donley Dec. 21, 1943 2,357,587Hammell Sept. 5, 1944 2,363,192 Miller Nov. 21, 1944 2,364,591 Stoughtonet al.' Dec. 5, 1945 2,390,059 DeLancey Dec. 4, 1945

